U-M to Travel to Penn State to Open Final Month of B1G Play

Tuesday, February 12

State College, Pa.

8:30 PM

Michigan

Penn State

U-M to Travel to Penn State to Open Final Month of B1G Play

2/11/2019 4:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» Michigan travels to face Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center to open the final four weeks of Big Ten play.
» In U-M's first game of 2019, the Wolverines used 17 points from Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis' first career double-double to defeat Penn State, 68-55, at Crisler Center (Jan. 3).
» Poole has scored in double figures in four straight games.
» Jon Teske posted his third double-double last game, tying career bests for points (17) and rebounds (12). He continues to lead the Big Ten in blocks (2.2 bpg).

NEXT GAME
Tuesday, Feb. 12 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 8:30 p.m.

The sixth-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (22-2, 11-2) will open the week heading to State College, Pa., for a battle with Penn State (8-15, 1-11) in a Tuesday (Feb. 12) contest at the Bryce Jordan Center. It will mark the second game of the season between the two teams after the Wolverines won, 68-55, to open the 2019 calendar year. In a BTN broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 8:31 p.m. with Brandon Gaudin and Robbie Hummel on the call.

A Little Bit About Penn State

• Penn State carries an 8-15 overall record with a 1-11 Big Ten mark. The Nittany Lions had lost eight straight before picking up their first conference win on Feb. 4 at Northwestern (59-52). Three days later, PSU dropped a down-to-the-wire game at Ohio State (74-70).
• Junior forward Lamar Stevens leads a trio of players averaging in double figures. Scoring in double figures in 22 of 23 games with 11 20-plus point games, Stevens leads the team with 18.9 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds per contest.
• Freshman guard Rasir Bolton adds 12.0 points and is second with 42 three-point field goals (1.8 per game), while senior guard Josh Reaves averages 10.2 points and leads with 76 assists (3.3 apg). Freshman guard Myles Dread leads PSU with 50 triples (2.2 per game), as he chips in 8.5 points per game.
• The Nittany Lions rank third in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 7.6 per game. Reaves is averaging 2.7 per game to lead the conference and rank 12th nationally.
• Patrick Chambers is in his eighth season as head coach at Penn State. He guided the Nittany Lions to the 2018 NIT championship last season, finishing with a 26-13 record.

The Series with Penn State

• Tuesday's game marks the 49th all-time meeting between Michigan and Penn State.
• U-M leads in the series, 36-12, and has won eight straight.
• Tuesday's game is the second meeting of the regular season. Led by Jordan Poole's 17 points and Ignas Brazdeikis' first career double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds), the Wolverines won 68-55 at Crisler Center.
• The Maize and Blue is 13-8 all-time in games played in State College, winning the last two and five of the last six.
• There has been only one overtime in the all-time series with U-M winning, 89-87, at Crisler on Feb. 19, 2000. After the Wolverines stormed out to a 17-point lead (44-27) in the first half, the Nittany Lions shot nearly 60 percent in the second half and drained eight three-pointers to outscore U-M, 53-36, to send the game into overtime. In the extra period, the Wolverines held on to win by two.
• Six games have been decided by three points or fewer, with U-M leading 4-2 in those games. After dropping the first two, the Wolverines have won the last four tightly contested games. The most recent was a 72-69 victory at Crisler Center on Jan. 4, 2017. The Wolverines trailed the Nittany Lions by seven, 36-29, at the half, and Penn State led by 14 points with 13 minutes remaining. Michigan then outscored Penn State, 32-15, over the last 12-plus minutes to earn its first Big Ten win (1-1) of the season.

Earlier This Season

• In its first game of the New Year, Michigan came away with a 68-55 Big Ten victory over Penn State to maintain a perfect 14-0 overall record and improve to 3-0 in conference action.
• Ignas Brazdeikis recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the contest, while Jordan Poole notched his 10h double-digit scoring effort of the season, scoring a team-best 17 points against the Nittany Lions. Also scoring double-digits for U-M was Charles Matthews.
• As a team, Michigan forced Penn State into 18 turnovers, which turned into 20 points for the Maize and Blue.
• Michigan notched eight steals and had six blocks on the evening against PSU.

How About This?

• Michigan's 22 wins is the most through 24 games in program history.
• The Wolverines' 20-plus wins marks the ninth time under John Beilein and the 30th in program history. In fact, Beilein owns two of U-M's four 30-plus win seasons in program history, including the program record of 33 set last season.
• U-M's 10-plus Big Ten wins gives Beilein his fourth straight season of 10 or more. In fact, he has reached double-digit wins in seven of the last eight seasons. Those seven seasons are the most of any U-M coach in program history -- passing Steve Fisher (6), Bill Frieder (6) and Johnny Orr (6).
• Already the all-time winningest coach at U-M with 270 wins, Beilein became U-M's all-time Big Ten leader -- passing Johnny Orr (120) -- with a 77-65 victory at Rutgers (Feb. 5). Beilein, who has 122 conference victories, is one of 21 Big Ten coaches to win 100 or more in a career.
• Since a season-high 16 turnovers at Wisconsin (Jan. 19), Michigan has posted six straight games of less than 10 (7.3 per game), including just five in the return game against the Badgers (Feb. 9). U-M leads the nation with 9.2 per game.
• Since going 5-for-11 (45.4%) at the free throw line at Wisconsin (Jan. 19), Michigan has shot 76.2 percent (64-for-84) over its last six games. For the season, U-M shoots 68.7 percent.
• Jon Teske leads the Big Ten in blocked shots (2.2). He has had at least one block in 23 games and in his last 19 straight.
• In his last game, Teske posted his third double-double of the season with career-best-tying marks for points (17; 4th time this season) and rebounds (12; 2nd time this season).
• Jordan Poole has scored in double figures in his last four games. He has 17 total this season -- second only to Ignas Brazdeikis' 20.
• After shooting 31.3 percent over his last six games, Charles Matthews got red hot in the second half against Wisconsin scoring 16 of his 18 points. It was the first time he scored 15-plus points since his 18 against Indiana (Jan. 6).
• Matthews has had six assists over his last two games. In the five games prior, he tallied a total of six. For the season, Matthews has 32 (1.3 apg).
• After not recording an assist against Minnesota (Jan. 22), Zavier Simpson five straight games with five or more, including a career-best 12 (no turnovers) against Ohio State (Jan. 29) -- which led to U-M's sixth triple-double in program history. Overall, he has had five or more dimes in 19 games this season and is second in the Big Ten (6.0 apg).
• After going 1-for-7 at Indiana (Jan. 25), Isaiah Livers has gone 10-for-16 (62.5%) from the field in his last four games, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from long range.
• Eli Brooks has been very efficient lately, posting eight assist and no turnovers in his six games. He has averaged 10.0 minutes in those six contests.

Hot Notes

• Zavier Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons -- a streak of 103 straight.
• Charles Matthews and Jon Teske have not missed a game in two seasons -- a streak of 65 straight.
• Simpson (330) needs 25 assists to move into 13th place on U-M's all-time list -- Jimmy King (354).
• Simpson (107) became the 23rd Wolverine to reach 100 steals in a career. He needs 28 more to reach the top 10 all-time at U-M -- Thad Garner (1979-82) and Dion Harris (2004-07) are 10th at 135.
• Matthews (837) needs 163 more points to become the 55th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points.
• Jordan Poole (93) needs seven more three-pointers to become the 27th Wolverine to make 100-plus in a career.
• Averaging a Big Ten Best 2.2 per game, Jon Teske (53) needs seven blocks to become the first Wolverine to reach 60 in a season since Ekpe Udoh had 92 (2007-08).
• Michigan has made 186 three-pointers this season. The Wolverines need 14 more to make 200-plus in all 12 of John Beilein's seasons at U-M.

Up Next

Saturday, Feb. 16 -- vs. Maryland (Crisler Center), Noon (TV: Fox)